we also visited a temple for lalitha, where the popular lalitha sahasranamam was supposed to have been chanted first as well as a rara temple for Ganesha in a normal human form - before his head was replaced with that of an elephant - the Adi Vinayaka temple. [a quick search before writing this post showed that there are a few other such temples in tamilnadu, in the same area].

our landing point was mayiladuthurai - where the station has been partly converted to broad gauge and the rest is still in meter gauge, under conversion.

the family that hosted us for breakfast lunch [and packed dinner for the night train] were very good family friends of my in-laws.

their affection was extremely touching. we were overwhelmed by the hospitality and the simple and surrounding affection.

i had written earlier on LoL. this obviously does not not apply to them - possibly for all non-urban families.

society and the close knit families still mean a lot and their lives spin around them. while having grown to have the benefits of modern technology and advancements, the basic values and the small-town atmosphere where almost everybody knows everybody else and genuinely cares about them are still to be seen and felt.

it was a refreshing power break. the trains were full, but did not feel crowded.surely the temples were very quiet and we could spend undistrubed time in all the temples.i was told that the crowds usually come in during the weekends.

in all this i could not see any peacocks - in the town where once peacocks danced - hence the name mayiladuthurai [or mayooram or mayavaram].

it is surely worth another, more leisurely visit to this part of the country.